You sit straight up in bed, scared and sweating. You had a dream about falling from a high mountain cliff, and it felt completely real. Luckily, you woke up before hitting the ground.

Falling dreams are common, but they should really be referred to as nightmares. After all, the feeling of falling to certain death is one of the reasons the dreamer wakes with a sudden jolt. Though many people report having these dreams as they nod off to sleep – waking them with a start – others experience them in the middle of their dream state.

Dreams about falling have special significance, even if the fall isn’t from a high location (some people dream of just “falling” through midair). The key is to uncover what a dream about falling reveals in our waking hours.

“In both falling and drowning dreams, we feel faced with a life-or-death situation,” writes Patricia Garfield in her book, The Universal Dream Key. “We often wake to ‘escape’ the danger in our dream. But there is more than our instinct to survive involved in these dreams.”

Analyzing a Falling Dream

In the example above, the dreamer falls from a high mountain cliff. Of the many locations to fall from, mountain cliffs seem to be the favorite language of our dreams. So what does “the edge” symbolize in our waking state?

We say we feel “on edge” when we are highly irritated. If someone is “living on the edge,” she is living dangerously, close to sudden danger. So when we dream about falling off the edge of a cliff, a good question to ask is, what does that cliff’s edge mean in your present situation? Are we living dangerously in any way?

Living on the edge doesn’t just mean indulging an addiction or hanging out in the fringes of society; what is dangerous for one person may be different for another. Only the dreamer can determine that, but he should probably heed the warning of his dream, and take precaution in his waking state. He may be “toeing the edge” without realizing it.

Questions for Dream Interpretation

When you have a dream about falling, try to recall answers to the following questions. They may help you discover the lesson your psyche is emphasizing.

* Where did the fall take place? Was it from a high mountain cliff, building, amusement park ride or just through space?

* Were you falling into anything? For example, were you falling through water or down a well?

* What situations in waking life could be dangerous to you in some way?

* What situations have you “fallen into” recently, or become involved in?

* Do you feel you have your feet “planted firmly on the ground,” or do you feel lost and confused in your waking hours?

Types of Falling Dreams

There are many ways to dream about falling. Sometimes dreamers wake when they feel the impending doom or helplessness, but other times they’re shocked with the sudden awareness of hitting the earth. The following two dream examples may provide help for your own interpretations.

Falling Through Black Space

Walking slowly down a dark cavern, it is hard to see, but you notice a curve in the road.

As you feel blindly around a corner to take your next step, there is no ground beneath your foot. You quickly fall into an enormous black hole.

Falling into a hole is a scary situation, but falling into a black hole, where nothing can be seen or heard, is even more terrifying. Though there is plenty of evidence in the example above that it is hard to see – dark cavern, feeling blindly – matters take a turn for the worse when the dreamer falls into total darkness.

The term “black hole” conjures up a feeling mystery. As with the black holes in space, once an object falls beyond the event horizon (the border between the universe and a black hole), it disappears into the unknown.

In its simplest form, this dream could be a metaphor for a present life situation that is hard to figure out or see clearly. In fact, there may not be a known answer, which could be symbolized by an endless fall in the dark.

If the dreamer was having fun before the fall – if she was on an amusement park ride – this could be a clue that a fun situation in the dreamer’s waking state could soon turn dangerous (if it hasn’t already).

On the other hand, if the dreamer is already experiencing some difficulty before the fall, this could signify an existing “tricky” situation that could be leading down a mysterious or scary path.

Strikingthe GroundYou don’t remember how it started, but you are falling to the ground and suddenly you hit rock bottom. You wake up shocked and silent. Did that just happen?

The first thought that probably comes to mind is the myth about dying if you hit the ground in a dream. Though this is enough to scare a dreamer into waking before it actually happens – and possibly another reason the dream is so terrifying – it isn’t true. Though it’s not as common as waking during a fall, some dreamers do experience hitting the ground in their dreams.

In the example above, the dreamer hits the ground and is propelled awake. Garfield writes that striking the earth in a dream can symbolize a shocking awareness of a waking situation. Have you had a sudden realization or reality check that has brought you “back down to earth” recently?

Transforming Falling Dreams Whether it’s in your waking life or in a dream, falling is scary. But just as you can protect yourself from a physical fall, you can transform nightmares of falling into insightful dreams of flight and adventure.

The next time you dream about falling, practice the following tips for a beneficial experience:

* Allow yourself to fall gently, taking in your surroundings. When you are safely on the ground, talk to other characters and learn about a new concept or culture.

* While you are falling, remember that you can fly. Garfield suggests turning the passive role of falling into the active one of flying. Instead of having a nightmare, you can have a wonderful adventure, flying to interesting places and meeting new people.

* Change the outcome of a scary fall. For example, imagine a fluffy cushion waiting for you below, or a sturdy step below the one your foot slipped from.

Dreams about falling remind us that there are situations in life that let us down. When you “fall into” a problem in your waking hours, it can seem like a hopeless situation. But remember, you can always “dig yourself out” again. Though our dreams alert us to present – and possibly future – situations, it is all in how we handle the warnings. Analyze the language of your dreams and discover what new challenges await you.

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